Meet the Hawthornes II
by three-golden-mockingjays
Summary: The sequel to Meet the Hawthornes has Rory stuck in an incredibly awkward position, his girlfriend's coming over, and so's his angsty older brother. Won't this be fun? Note: it is completely unnecessary to have read the first one.


"You can't be serious Ma," Rory confronted his mother, who, as she always seemed to be those days, was washing clothes, "You have got to be joking."

"I don't joke any more young man," Hazelle said seriously, wringing out a shirt, "Hang this up for me."

Rory took the shirt from his mother's hand and pegged it to the line. He was now so tall that he was taller than it, and had to made sure his head didn't get tangled amongst its makeshift ropes, "So, just clarifying here Ma, you've invited Gale to come home the night I'm having," his voice dropped lower, more out of habit more that anything, "Annika over."

"I didn't invite him to come over tonight, if you must know," Hazelle was tired, and the thought of cooking dinner for not only Rory, Vick, Posy and herself but for Gale and Annika too threatened to put her to sleep right there on her feet. But that was not how a Hawthorne woman acted, "I wanted to invite him over later, but apparently he needs to be here now," Hazelle paused and looked at her second eldest son, "I think he wants to be out of here before the anniversary."

There was no need to elaborate. A week from that day it was to be the anniversary of the death of President Snow, as well as President Coin, and generally hailed as the end of the dictatorship and years of cruelty that had befallen the people of Panem. The citizens of the newly reformed District 12, or whatever they were calling it these days, were too busy trying to get out of the rut they'd been left in to care all too much. But word was, there'd be a service at dawn for the people gone past, and that Peeta Mellark would give a speech. Katniss would attend too, of course, but neither Hazelle nor Rory had any expectations of her speaking. It really wasn't Katniss' style. Hazelle wondered vaguely whether Haymitch would show up. He was drinking a little less now, if you thought about it. Very drunk as a pose to disgustingly drunk.

"Alright then," huffed Rory, "What time will he be home?"

"Six," Hazelle said grimly, wiping her calloused hands on her apron, "Right on time, knowing him."

"But that's when Annika's coming!" Rory protested, turning childish.

"Yes Rory," Hazelle was tired, and she did not have any more time to spend on her second youngest son, "You are filthy and you smell. For the love of God, go take a shower and put on a clean shirt."

And so Rory strode off, not looking forward to the inevitably chilling shower to come. But more daunting than the prospect of an ice-cold shower was the thought of his brother, and his girlfriend, under the same roof.

Ten minutes later, shivering and cleanly dressed, Rory tapped his feet nervously. Vick dutifully helped his mother with the cooking. Their lives had improved a little - a new house with flowing water, more food - but things were still hard for the Hawthornes, just like it was for others in the newly built strip of houses that replaced those that had been in the Seam. The packets of pasta Vick was preparing was a normal meal these days, but the sauce Hazelle stirred over the sputtering stove a rare treat. Posy read her book quietly on the floor, the rebellion had a profound effect on her.

There was a knock at the door. Rory jumped up and practically sprinted to answer it. He made sure to appear collected before opening it, smoothing back his hair and straightening his shirt. He took a deep breath, and opened the door.

"Hey Rory," Gale gave his younger brother a smile that slightly resembled a grimace, and gave his brother a hug that felt awkward at first, but became more comfortable towards the end.

"It's been a while," Rory said with a grin, and Gale nodded.

"New place isn't half bad," Gale said fairly, looking around. Their new house was no mansion, and looked far from classy, but nothing leaked, (yet) and it was connected to water through a newly made water system, even though it was cold.

"It's been pretty good," Rory agreed, "But apparently it doesn't compare to your place in 2." His brother hadn't revealed much about his life in a separate district, and Rory was as curious as anyone.

"Well, I moved into one of the old Victor's houses," he said, "No one else wanted to go there. Some of them reckon it's haunted," Gale snorted, "You wouldn't think those monsters in 2 would scare so easily, would you? Yeah, the new place is treating me just fine."

"What are you doing?" Rory asked, but Gale shook his head.

"You might hear about that later."

He was about to close the door when she called out to him.

"Rory!"

Her blonde hair flicked in the wind, a white ribbon sitting prettily amongst her loose curls. Her navy blue skirt was probably expensive, her white shirt perfectly clean. In the Seam, as it was still called out of tradition, there weren't any girls like her.

Gale's jaw dropped slowly.

"Hi Annika," Rory ignored his brother and smile nervously at his girlfriend, "You look nice."

"Well I'd certainly hope so," she said jokingly, and laughed, "Is that the legendary Gale Hawthorne I see gaping at me?"

Rory sputtered. Gale frowned, "Legendary?"

"You've slept with my sister," Annika said in an off-handed manner, "And approximately half of her friends," she was apparently unshaken by the stunned look on Gale's face, "Pleasure to meet the heartbreaker," she stuck out a hand for the dumbstruck Gale to shake.

Instead of grasping Annika's outstretched hand, Gale turned to stare at his brother with alarm, "You're dating this?"

Rory smiled weakly, "You'll learn to love her," he offered, his voice going up at the end like he was asking a question.

Gale's features broke into a smile, "I'm sure I will. Honest, pretty, fearless," Gale shook Annika's pale hand, "And has a very nice handshake. You've done well, my brother," he winked at the shaken Rory, and strolled into the house.

Annika promptly burst into a fit of laughter, "I thought he was going to punch me!"

"So did I," Rory said honestly, "Bloody hell Anni."

She smiled cheekily at him, "Told you a town girl could fend for herself."

"Never do that again," Rory said fervently, which just had his girlfriend laughing harder.

"Now that he's gone, do I get my kiss?" Annika asked perkily, and Rory happily obliged.

"Come on, let's go inside," he took his girlfriend by the hand and led her in.

"Good evening Annika," Hazelle said politely, smiling tiredly but earnestly as the blonde waltzed in, clutching her son's arm.

"Hi Hazelle," she smiled, "Hey Vick. Hi Posy!"

"Hi Annika," Vick said happily, "I'm making pasta!"

"Cool," Annika said happily, having a look at the pasta bubbling in the pot, "Looks great Vick."

Vick smiled. He was just as taken with Annika as he had been with Madge before her, not that they spoke about Madge much anymore, especially around Gale. It would appear that the Hawthorne boys all had similar taste.

"Hi Annika," Posy said slowly and shyly. She didn't jump around as she had with Madge before her. Posy was a different girl back then.

"Hey Poes," Annika smiled at the small girl, "What you reading?"

Posy shrugged, preferring to stay silent than explain, and went back to her book.

A few minutes later they were sitting down at the small table, eating the pasta Vick was so proud of, a newly formed family of sorts, with the bubbly Annika and out of place Gale among them. But it worked.

The evening turned into the night, and long after Hazelle and the kids had gone to bed, and after Annika had gone home, Rory and Gale stay up, Gale sprawled over the brand new couch that was the main luxury of the house, Rory sprawled in an almost identical manner on the thin rug that covered a space of the floor.

"Annika looks like Madge," Gale said coolly, looking down at his hands, "Same hair and nose and stuff."

Rory was taken aback. No one spoke about Madge anymore, least of all Gale.

"Yeah, I guess so."

"I miss Madge," Gale sounded very at peace with himself as he said that, stretching his hands over his head.

"Gale," Rory frowned, "You're not even drunk. Why are you telling me this?"

"I don't know," pouted Gale, "Just take my unusual advice and stick with Annika."

"Alright Gale," Rory raised his eyebrows, amused.

"A bomb could drop on her," Gale warned, "Something could happen. And then there would be no Annika. And that would suck."

Rory's face softened, "Thanks Gale. I'll listen to you."

"You should. Annika's great. She passed the test. She's met me and survived. She likes us, doesn't she?"

Rory nodded, "She said, as always, it was a pleasure to meet the Hawthornes."

* * *

**Here it is, as promised. Yes, I know it took me approx. 47329576490162058764385716435 years to get up, but hey, I made it! Hope you enjoy, I had a lot of fun writing this, (especially Annika. Oh God, so much sass!) Reviews are always appreciated :) -L**


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